Apparatus for winding up cloth

ABSTRACT

A cloth beam rests on a pair of driven spaced-parallel rollers. One or more uprights define a sinuous cam to which the cloth beam is coupled to execute reciprocating endwise motion as the axis of the cloth beam is moved away from the plane of the axes of the rollers with growth in the diameter of the roll of cloth wound up on the beam.

United States Patent Leysinger 1 Feb. 15,1972

[54] APPARATUS FOR WINDING UP CLOTH [72] Inventor: Hans Rudolf Leysinger, Andelfingen Switzerland [73] Assignee: Sulzer Brothers Limited, Winterthur, Switzerland [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 76,043

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 3, 1969 Switzerland ..14911/69 [52] U.S. Cl ..242/66, 242/57.l

[51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 17/12, B65h 25/26 [58] Field of Search ..242/66, 65, 67.2, 76.5, 57.8

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Fenland ..242/672 3,433,430 3/1969 Sprague ..242/66 Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant ExaminerEdward J. McCarthy Attorney-Pennie, Edmonds, Morton, Taylor and Adams ABSTRACT A cloth beam rests on a pair of driven spaced-parallel rollers. One or more uprights define a sinuous cam to which the cloth beam is coupled to execute reciprocating endwise motion as the axis of the cloth beam is moved away from the plane of the axes of the rollers with growth in the diameter of the roll of cloth wound up on the beam.

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ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FOR WINDING UP CLOTH The present invention pertains to apparatus for winding up of the cloth onto a cloth beam in a loom or other machine for handling cloth. The apparatus of the invention includes means to impose on the cloth beam a periodic reciprocating endwise motion, transversely of the direction of cloth winding, the periodicity of this motion being small compared to the rate of rotation of the beam.

In looms and similar machines there exists a problem in winding up cloth having thickened edges or selvages, such as cloth having tucked-in selvages produced on shuttleless looms, in that as the cloth is wound onto the beam there is generated a roll of cloth having a greater diameter at these edges than in the remainder thereof. This buildup is particularly great in rolls of large diameter and is undesirable since it may cause the cloth to be stretched or even to tear.

It is an object of the invention to obviate this shortcoming in cloth winding apparatus. In accordance with the invention means are provided which impose on the cloth beam an undulatory or reciprocating lateral motion. In this way the cloth is readily made up into a roll, all portions of which are of uniform diameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 20 and 2b are fragmentary perspective views of details ofthe apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views in elevation illustrating modified forms of apparatus in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a roll of cloth 2, the roll being generally indicated at l, is shown resting on two parallel driving rollers 3 and 4 one or both of which are caused to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows 5 and 6 by driving means such as the motor 13 diagrammatically shown in FIG. 2. The cloth 2, arriving in the direction 7 from a loom not shown, passes under the driving roll 4 and passes part way around it onto the roll 1. The roll is built up on a core or beam 8. The beam 8 is provided with sockets at its ends to receive, down to a depth determined by the depth of the sockets, pins 17 from follower elements 9 and 10. The frame which holds the rollers 3 and 4 in fixed relative position (subject to their rotations about their own axes), and which is shown in FIG. 2 as including girders 25 and 25 held together by struts 25", also supports two guides 11 and 12 which extend vertically, i.e., transversely of the plane defined by the axes ofthe rollers 3 and 4.

Each guide includes a waveor sawtooth-shaped member, 14 at the left and 15 at the right as shown in FIG. 2. The follower 9 illustrated in FIG. 2b comprises a fork-shaped member 16 attached to the pin 17 or stub shaft about which the beam 8 rotates. The two branches 16a and 16b of the fork engage opposite sides of the member 14. The fork is further provided with oppositely inclined faces 18 and 19 and with a vertical face 29 at the root of the space between the two branches 16a and 16b.

The follower at the other end of the beam is of the same construction as the follower 9. The members 14 and are however displaced or dephased vertically with respect to each other, e.g., perpendicularly to the plane defined by the axes of the rolls 5 and 6, so that the crests of the teeth on member 14 are opposite the troughs between adjacent teeth on the member 15. This relationship is illustrated in FIG. 2. It will there be seen that the follower l0 rests against or is adjacent to the lower slope 22 of a tooth 24 on member 15 while the follower 9 is adjacent the upper slope 20 of a tooth 21 on member 14. The spacing of the uprights 11 and 12 is such that the distance from the crest of a tooth on one of the members l4 and 15 to the trough between teeth on the other of those members is a little greater than the separation of the root face 29 on follower 9 from the corresponding part of the follower 10 (not shown) when the pins 17 are against the bottom of their sockets in the beam 8.

In operation roll 1 of cloth is rotated in the direction of the arrow 25 (FIG. 1) by the driving rollers 3 and 4 so that the cloth is wound up thereon. As the roll increases in diameter the beam 8 at its center will rise. Engagement of the upper face 18 on follower 10 with the lower slope 22 of tooth 24 results in shift of the beam 8 and roll 1 of cloth to the left, in FIG. 2, as indicated by the arrow 26. This is permitted by the relationship of the under face 19 of bearing 9 to the upper slope 20 of tooth 21 on member 14 already described.

Since the driving roll 4 about which the cloth is passed hinders lateral motion of the cloth as it arrives, the result of the leftward motion of the cloth beam 8 and roll 1 is that the edge portions of the cloth shift to the right on the roll in a conical spiral as indicated at 27 and 28 in FIG. 2. Consequently the edge portions of the cloth are not superposed on each other from layer to layer, i.e., from turn to turn. The leftward motion of the roll continues until the face 18 of the follower 10 loses engagement with the lower face 22 of the tooth on member 15 with which it is engaged-tooth 24 in the illustration of FIG. 2. Shortly thereafter the upper face 18 of the follower 9 will engage with the lower face 32 of the next higher tooth on member 14, and the roll will start travelling to the right as additional cloth is wound thereon. The bearing 10 correspondingly moves into the space between two teeth on the member 15. In this motion of the cloth beam and roll to the right, the edges of the cloth will shift leftward along the cloth beam at both sides thereof in a conical spiral. This is indicated in FIG. 2 at 35 and 36 on a representation in chain lines of the upper half of the cross section of the cloth roll, assumed to have grown to larger diameter. In this motion also, superposition of the edge portions of the cloth from coil to coil with growing thickness of the cloth roll is prevented. The roll therefore retains the same diameter over its whole length. By virtue of the fact that the thickness of the cloth is small compared to the spacing of adjacent teeth on the members 14 and 15, the roll will make a large number of revolutions in each cycle of its travel from left to right and back again. Hence the ends of the roll will display a series of concentric circular grooves.

Roller bearings may be employed in place of the forkshaped members 9 and 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3 a roll 46 of cloth wound on a cylindrical core or beam 45 is shown supported on driven parallel rollers 3 and 4 (only one of which can be seen), as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. A stub shaft 49is coupled to one end of the beam 45 to be rotatable with respect thereto but to be prevented from moving axially with respect thereto. The stub shaft can accordingly pull as well as push against the beam 45. The stub shaft is affixed to a fork-shaped follower 50 whose arms engage the two sides of a vertical plate 48 in which there is formed a sinuous slot or groove 47 bounded by two guide surfaces 470 and 47b. A pin 51 affixed to one arm of the fork 50 engages this slot. As the beam 45 rises, with growth of the roll of cloth thereon, there is imposed on the shaft 49 and hence on the beam 45 a periodic motion lengthwise of the beam so that again superposition of the edge portions of the cloth from coil to coil is prevented. Alternatively of course the stub shaft 49 may be fixed to the beam and possess rotational but not longitudinal freedom with respect to the follower 50.

FIG. 4 shows a cloth beam 55 rotatably mounted and coupled, as in the embodiment of FIG. 3, to a fork-shaped follower 56 (seen in partial section) which engages a guide member 57. The follower includes a stub shaft 62 coupled to the beam 55 for rotation with respect thereto but without freedom of motion lengthwise thereof. The two arms of the fork are connected by means of a pin 58 carrying a roller 59. A compression spring 60 is engaged between a flat face 61 of the member 57 and the follower so as to stress the roller 59 against a sinuous profile formed on the member 57. In this embodiment also, as the diameter of the cloth roll increases, the roll and the beam will be shifted periodically to the left and then to the right. Hence the end faces of the roll will present a succession of concentric grooves as seen in FIG. 1, as will also be the case with the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3.

In each of the embodiments which has been described; the periodic endwise motion of the beam and cloth roll is imposed thereon by apparatus which can be considered to constitute a cam and cam follower. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the cam comprises the two members 14 and 15 and the cam follower comprises the follower elements 9 and 10 and the beam which holds the follower elements at a fixed spacing. In the embodiment of FIG. 3 the cam is provided by the slotted member 48 and the follower by the pin 51, while in the embodiment of FIG. 4 the cam is provided by the plate 57 and the follower by the pin 58 and roller 59. In all three embodiments the cam is a sinuous one, extending transversely of the plane defined by the axes of the rollers on which the cloth roll rests, and the cloth beam is coupled to the cam follower so as to partake of the motion imposed thereon by the cam.

In one of its aspects therefore the invention comprises means such as the rollers 3 and 4 to support a cloth beam and to impart rotation thereto, means such as the roller 4 to feed a web of cloth to the beam, and means such as the cam and cam follower mechanism which has been described to effect reciprocating relative motion of the feed means and beam lengthwise of the beam at a cyclical rate slow compared with the rate of rotation of the beam. In another of its aspects the invention comprises means such as the rollers 3 and 4 to support a cloth beam and to impart rotation thereto, and means such as the cam and cam follower mechanism which has been described to impose a reciprocating axial motion on the beam at a rate slow compared to the rate of rotation of the beam.

While the invention has been described hereinabove in terms of a number of presently preferred embodiments thereof, the invention itself is not limited thereto but rather in cludes all modifications of and departures from those embodiments properly falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Cloth winding apparatus comprising a cloth beam. a pair of parallel rollers for support of the cloth beam, means to impart rotation to at least one of said rollers, a sinuous cam extending transversely of the plane defined by the axes of said rollers, a cam follower engaging said cam, and means coupling the cloth beam to said follower.

2. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim I wherein said cam comprises two sawtooth-shaped members, one adjacent each end of the beam, and wherein said cam follower comprises separate follower elements at each end of the beam for engagement each with one of said members.

3. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cam comprises a plate disposed adjacent one end of the beam, said plate having a sinuous slot therein.

4. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim I wherein said cam comprises a plate disposed adjacent one end of the beam, said plate having a sinuous profile, said apparatus further including resilient means to stress said follower against said profile. 

1. Cloth winding apparatus comprising a cloth beam, a pair of parallel rollers for support of the cloth beam, means to impart rotation to at least one of said rollers, a sinuous cam extending transversely of the plane defined by the axes of said rollers, a cam follower engaging said cam, and means coupling the Cloth beam to said follower.
 2. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cam comprises two sawtooth-shaped members, one adjacent each end of the beam, and wherein said cam follower comprises separate follower elements at each end of the beam for engagement each with one of said members.
 3. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cam comprises a plate disposed adjacent one end of the beam, said plate having a sinuous slot therein.
 4. Cloth winding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cam comprises a plate disposed adjacent one end of the beam, said plate having a sinuous profile, said apparatus further including resilient means to stress said follower against said profile. 